1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing technique using an object in a real space.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been conventionally used, in a variety of fields, a technique of measuring a parameter related to an object, such as a human or substance, in a real space using some means, and using the parameter as an input value for a computer so as to perform analysis or display an image. In the field of computer games, motion of a user or of a marker held by a user is acquired and a character in a virtual world within a display screen is made to move according thereto, for example, thereby realizing intuitive and easy operation (see WO 2007/050885 A2, for example). Such a technique of reflecting in the screen display a change in the motion or shape of an object in a real space is expected to be applied to toys or learning materials besides games (see Michael Philetus Weller, Ellen Yi-Luen Do, Mark D Gross, “Posey: Instrumenting a Poseable Hub and Strut Construction Toy,” Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Tangible and Embedded Interaction, 2008, pp 39-46, for example).
In order to create the realism of the scenes and enable intuitive operation in the aforementioned case where an operation on an object is used as an input value to perform information processing, it is important to provide perceived affordance. For example, there may be provided an apparatus that resembles the shape of a real object, such as a steering wheel or a pistol, and is operable in a similar way, but the uses of the apparatus are limited. If the shape of such an apparatus is made variable, the range of the uses will be expanded, but some ingenuity need be exercised to measure a change in the shape or motion of the apparatus.
In the technique disclosed in the document of Weller et. al, for example, an infrared LED and a photo sensor for receiving light from the LED are embedded in a joint part of a component, so as to measure the rotation angle of the component and identify the shape. In this case, the measurable rotation angles are limited and so is the variable range of the shape. Also, since every part need be provided with such devices, manufacturing cost will be increased. In this way, if the form of the apparatus provided as an input means is made more flexible, the mechanism for measuring the form will be more complicated; as a result, manufacturing cost or processing cost tends to be increased.